10Q: Achates Power Reinvents the Engine

Date:01/04/2012

Company:Achates Power

Source:Bloomberg

Imagine the commercial delivery truck of the future — powered by a silent electric engine and emitting fresher air than it takes in. Now keep imagining, because for the next few decades, the reality is that roads will more likely be dominated by the same internal-combustion vehicles our grandparents drove.

In the meantime, Achates Power has revisited a century-old concept of how to remake the internal combustion automobile engine so it’s cheaper, has fewer emissions and uses less fuel. It may not be the future you imagined, but sometimes the best new ideas are actually old ones.

Achates’s two-stroke diesel engine has two pistons per cylinder, one more than traditional engines, that pump in opposite directions. The engine structure was invented in the 1890s, but subsequent versions used too much oil and released too much smog to meet modern standards. Compared with engines currently on the road, Achates’ prototype lowers nitrogen oxide emissions 30 percent and boosts fuel efficiency 20 percent.